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DUST
Dust / Hard Attack (Reissue)

Legacy (2013)
Rating: 8.5/10

Formed in the late 1960s by guitarist / vocalist Richie Wise and New York teens Kenny Aaronson (bass) and Marc Bell (drums, whose post-Dust career would include becoming a Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer under the stage name Mark Ramone), Dust are considered by many old school metalheads to be a part of the genre’s humble beginnings. The band also counted (as was common at the time) producer and co-songwriter Kenney Kerner, who would go on to team with Wise to produce early Kiss albums.

For this reissue, Legacy Records has had the albums Dust and Hard Attack (both originally released by Kama Sutra Records in 1971) remastered from the original tapes and are releasing both on a single disc as well as vinyl with all new artwork.

While today I don’t believe anyone would call this “heavy metal” it certainly contains elements of a variety of genres including hard rock and heavy metal and their progressive extensions. Steppenwolf and more straightforward Iron Butterfly certainly come to mind when listening to this, as does ELO, early Kansas albums, and, most notably, Blue Öyster Cult.

‘Pull Away / So Many Times’ and ‘Learning To Die’ from Hard Attack and ‘Chasin’ Ladies’, ‘Love Me Hard’ and ‘Loose Goose’ from Dust all have the raunchy guitar tones and are driven by aggressive riffs topped with big solos and power trio rhythms that would become commonplace in the decade to come, despite the rise of disco.

The band was more than a one trick pony though. The Rolling Stones-ish ‘Stone Woman’ (from Dust) is a rock ’n’ roll by the numbers anthem with a dash of blues and a prominent slide guitar that separates the song from a myriad of other similar sounding tunes from that era. ‘Suicide’ (Hard Attack) is a more experimental tune that boasts an excellent guitar interlude mid-song, the odd part being that everything else drops out during it. It certainly keeps your attention at a critical point in the song and adds to the snarky, hard-edged feel of it all. The psychedelic feel of ‘From A Dry Camel’ (Dust) is another moment here that brings out the epic feel that would become a major part of the music of bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden over the decades to come.

In my opinion, it’s very rare that you can unearth “new” music from such a great point in musical history. Everything about Dust feels fresh and authentic and I can’t imagine any fan of the bands mentioned here not liking this. In retrospect, it’s surprising this hasn’t resurfaced before now because the quality of the music is unbelievable. These guys were very, very good. I highly suggest you pick this up before it’s lost again forever if you enjoy this era of music.

Mark Fisher

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